Ventilating construction for mechanical refrigerators



March 3, 1936. P. CROSLEY, JR

VENTILATING CONSTRUCTION FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERATORS Filed. March 20, 1954 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 3, 1936 PATENT OFFICE VENTILATING CONSTRUCTION FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERATORS Powel Crosley, IL, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Crosley Radio Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 20, 1934, Serial No. 716,489

6 Claims.

In the usual mechanical refrigerator for household use, it is the practice to provide in one unit a refrigerator compartment in which is located the evaporator and an additional compartment in which-is located the high pressure side of the refrigerating system, including the motor, fan, compressor and condenser. The latter compartment may be located eitherabove or below the refrigerator compartment. It has been the practice to open the back portion of the compressor compartment to the air so as to provide in some degree for ventilation. It is an'object of my present invention to provide means permitting a circulation of air directly through the compressor compartment which obviously increases the efficiency of the refrigerating mechanism very considerably.

Hitherto suggestions along this line have contemplated either providing partitions in the com- ;o pressor compartment which are supposed to facilitate the circulation of air by providing a more or less continuous channel therefor, although both the inlet and outlet openings for air circulation are located at the rear of the refrigerator, or have 5 contemplated providing additional openings through the sides of the refrigerator or through the front portion thereof, as through a door which closes the high pressure compartment. Such openings however, are both unsightly and pro- :3:) ductive of the accumulation of dirt and dust, so that for the most part, the art has discarded such suggestions, preferring to accept a less eflicient circulation of the air. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a means for air cir- 35 culation, which while it permits admission of air to the compressor compartment from the front portion of the refrigerator, is not unsightly and is not characterized by visible openings through the cabinet proper.

ZJ These and other objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter, or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall'now 15 describe an exemplary embodiment, reference being had to the accompanying drawing which shows a type of refrigerator embodying my novel construction. It will be understood, however, that the particular type of refrigerator shown is 5;) not a limitation upon my invention.

I have shown in the drawing, a portion of the upper part of a refrigerator in which a refrigerated compartment is. indicated generally at I, and a compressor compartment housing a motor 55 I, a compressor 4, a condenser 5 and a fan 6, is

indicated at 2. The back portion of the compressor compartment is open to the air as at I. The top of the refrigerator is indicated at 8.

The refrigerator is provided with a door '9 closing the refrigerated compartment. This door n. is provided with an extension III which lies beyond the refrigerated compartment and covers at least a portion of the cabinet lying in front of the compressor compartment 2. The extension of the door may house a supplementary or service shelf member I I, as set forth in the copending application of Crosley and Money, entitled Refrigerator constructions, Serial No. 707,370 filed Jan. 19,

In accordance with my invention the portion of the front of the cabinet opposite'the high pressure compartment 2 is provided with ventilating openings. I have indicated the front or face plate of the cabinet at I2, and have shown therein portions. of the metal struck back to. form louvres I3, whereby air may be admitted through the front of the cabinet to the high pressure compartment 2. It will be noted, however, that these openings or louvres lie wholly behind the extension ID of the refrigerator door.

While this door isprovided with parting strips I4 to seal the refrigerated compartment, it will be noticed that the extension thereof does not lie against the face plate I2 of the cabinet. On the contrary there is provided therebetween a space I5 through which air may enter between the door extension Ill and the face plate I2, subsequently being drawn through the louvres l3 by the action of the fan 6. Moreover, I may cut away the side portions of the door extension as at I6 to permit a freer entrance of air.

It will be understood that while air may freely enter the space between the door extension I 0 and the face plate I2, passing through the louvres I3 into the motor compartment, under the influence of the fan 6, and passing therefrom through the open back portion I of the cabinet, yet any openings through the front of the cabinet are completely concealed by the door extension I2. In this way I have provided for front venti- 5 lation of the compressor compartment without unsightly exposed openings. While I may of course, substitute any other type of openings for the louvres I3, yet I prefer to employ louvres because they require no members in addition to the face plate, and because when they are formed in the usual enamel face plate they are easily kept clean and are less unsightly even when the refrigerator door is opened than other forms of openings that might be provided. The partiou- 5 lar construction of refrigerator shown is not a limitation upon my invention, nor is the particular character of door which'I have illustrated in my exemplary embodiment. My invention may be applied to compressor compartments whether located above or below the refrigerator compartment. It is, of course, advantageous to draw the air in through the front of the cabinet and expel it through the rear, but a reversal of this is likewise contemplated by my invention.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a refrigerator having a refrigerated compartinent and a compressor compartment, said compressor compartment being open at the rear of the cabinet, and having an opening in the front of the cabinet for permitting passage of air to or from said compressor compartment, and means in front of and concealing said ventilation opening and spaced therefrom to allow said passage of air, said means having an appearance of continuity conforming with the appearance of other front surface of the refrigerator.

2. In a refrigerator, a refrigerated comparte ment, and a compartment housing the high pressure side of a refrigeration mechanism, said last mentioned compartment being open at the rear, the front of said compartment having a ventilating opening, said refrigerated compartment having a door tightly closing it, and an extension on said door adapted to cover and conceal said ventilation opening, but spaced therefrom when the door is in closed position to allow passage of air through the ventilating opening.

3. In a refrigerator, a refrigerated compartment, and a compartment housing the high pressure side of a refrigeration mechanism, said last mentioned compartment being open at the rear, the front of said compartment having a ventilating opening, said refrigerated compartment having a door tightly closing it, and an extento cover and conceal said'ventiiation opening, but spaced therefrom when the door is in closed position to allow passage of air through the ventilating opening, the side portions of said door extension being cut away to provide additional space for e of air.

4. In a refrigerator, a cabinet containing a refrigerated compartment and a compressor compartment, said compressor compartment being open at the rear, said cabinet having a ventilating opening at the front of said high Pressure compartment, a door for said refrigerated compartment tightly closing it and having an extension adapted to extend in front of and conceal said ventilation openings when the door is closed, said extension having a cut away portion permitting the passage of air through said ventilation opening.

5. In a refrigerator having a cabinet, a refrigerated compartment and a compressor compartment, a door for said refrigerated compartment, said compressor compartment being open at the rear of said cabinet, said cabinet having a ventilating opening at the front of said compressor compartment, and means at the front of said cabinet in front of and concealing said ventilation openings, but so related thereto as to permit passage of air through said openings, said last mentioned means being operable with said door.

6. In a refrigerator having a cabinet, a refrigerated compartment and a compressor compartment. a door for said refrigerated compartment, said compressor compartment being open at the rear of said cabinet, said cabinet having ventilating openings at the front of said compressor compartment, and means at the front of said cabinet extending in front ofv said ventilation openings, said last mentioned means being movable with said door so as to reveal said openings, said ventilation openings being formed with louvres struck up from the front portion of said cabinet.

POWEL CROS EY| JR. 

